Study: Gaps persist in R.I. graduation rates

Linda Borg Journal Staff Writer @lborgprojocom

Saturday

Jan 23, 2016 at 10:15 PM

PROVIDENCE — More students are graduating on time from Rhode Island high schools than four years ago, but significant gaps remain between white students and students of color as well as between low- and moderate-income students, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University and another organization.

Two New England states, New Hampshire and Vermont, have among the best graduation rates in the country, above 87 percent. But they don't face the same challenges as Rhode Island, which has students with much greater needs.

The report, the Building of a Grad Nation Data Brief, finds that 15 states graduate less than 70 percent of students from low-income households. The data is based on four-year graduation rates from 2014, the latest year for which national information is available.

Nationally, 89 percent of students who are not from low-income households graduate in four years compared with 74.6 percent of low-income youth.

In Rhode Island, 91.7 percent of students from moderate-income households graduate in four years, compared with 71.1 percent of students from low-income households. And Rhode Island has one of the largest graduation gaps between moderate and low-income youth, according to the report.

Grad Nation also found that 3,589 Rhode Island students are enrolled in high schools with graduation rates below 67 percent.

Rhode Island's five largest school districts — Providence, Cranston, Warwick, Pawtucket and Woonsocket — account for almost 40 percent of the state's total graduates. They post graduation rates ranging from 85 percent in Cranston to 58 percent in Woonsocket.

In Woonsocket, Supt. Patrick McGee is working at all grade levels to improve the graduation rate. In the early elementary grades, the district has adopted a consistent curriculum in math and English. Middle school students will be taking midterm and final exams to better prepare them for high school. Eighth graders will build a portfolio of work to get them ready for high school, where portfolios are a graduation requirement.

And in high school, upperclassmen will serve as mentors for freshmen during ninth-grade advisory periods.

"We see this as a systemic problem," McGee said. "Our kindergarten teachers are just as responsible as our high school teachers for students graduating on time."

The district is making progress: the 2015 graduation rate jumped to 65 percent.

State Education Commissioner Ken Wagner said Rhode Island has made significant gains toward improving its graduation rates and reducing its dropout rates. The 2014 Rhode Island graduation rate — the basis of the Grad Nation report — rose to 81 percent, a 5.5-point improvement since 2009.

Rhode Island is closing gaps but not fast enough, the report said.

The five-year graduation rate for black students jumped from 67 percent in 2011 to 77 percent in 2014. For Latinos, four-year graduation rates have risen from 67 percent to 72 percent over the same period. English-language learners also show a positive upward trend.

But sizable disparities remain. In Rhode Island, 85 percent of white students graduate in four years, compared with 71.8 percent of black students and 71.8 percent of Latino students, according to Grad Nation. The gap is even larger for special education students, whose graduation rate is 60 percent versus 86.7 percent for other students.

"We recognize, however, that we still see significant achievement gaps that separate several student groups from their peers," Wagner said. "Through our commitment to focusing on instruction, providing advanced coursework opportunities for all students, re-imagining high schools, empowering teachers and school leaders, and engaging families and communities, we will continue to keep more students engaged in school and to prepare more students for success."

Grad Nation is co-authored by Civic Enterprises, a Washington, D.C., think tank, and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University's School of Education.

—lborg@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7823

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